


Playing Chicken

by StarlightSystem



Series: Transcendence AU [15]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Transcendence (Gravity Falls), Ficlet, Gen, Mabel dies off screen, Not Beta Read, References to Christianity, You betta believe this is angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-19 14:35:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20211358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightSystem/pseuds/StarlightSystem
Summary: When Dipper was young, he used to play chicken to see how far he could step into a church before it hurt too much.





	Playing Chicken

When Dipper was young, he used to play chicken to see how far he could step into a church before it hurt too much.

At first, it was simple curiosity -- was the whole “not being able to enter a church” thing even real? There was always that run-down old church over the dinosaur pit that they could use to find out. One painful welt on his head and one hysterically laughing sister later, he came to the conclusion that yes, it was real.

Later, it became a challenge, a test of his ability. It was the thrill of getting a little bit farther in before panicking and running, or collapsing in pain and calling for Mabel to carry him out. It was like measuring his height against notches in a door frame, even down to the fact that his sister always beat him.

Eventually, he becomes strong enough that it’s not so fun anymore. It just becomes a weird jaunt into an ugly building that kind of makes his skin crawl. But every once in a while he treks back to the old church in the woods near Gravity Falls because it gives him fond memories of the game he played when he was younger. Sometimes he goes with Mabel, and they laugh about how silly they were, and then laugh even more at the idea that they were any less silly now that they were older.

One day, he makes his approach, and there’s something different in his demeanor. There’s a coldness about him, and it’s not just from the night. He sees the church -- after all of these years, the building still stands. It’s falling apart, sure, but something has kept it dangling on its last legs, unable to be rejoined with the earth.

The familiarity of it all burns more than the building itself, and maybe that’s why he’s here now; playing chicken with memories instead of with sanctity. He thinks of Mabel holding his hand and trying to get him to inch in a little farther. She's long dead now but he still sees her, and he was wrong because this was supposed to be a happy memory but it had become tainted just like all the others.

So he’s mad. He’s mad at himself, but he doesn’t admit it, and he channels that anger outward into a dance. He skips all the way into the building, caresses the walls because they have no power over him anymore, and he can’t help but show it off. With every step, the flames rise from his feet, and in a manner of minutes, the old church is gone.

Glittery ashes rain down on the dancing demon, cajoling him with memories he no longer wishes to revisit. They sizzle away into nothingness as they touch his skin, and there are no tears streaming down his face, because it doesn’t hurt anymore, he swears it doesn’t, because he’s strong now, he’s strong enough that a sanctified space can’t hurt him just because it’s sanctified.

He’s weak, though, and he crumples to the ground. The memories hurt far more than a spritz of holy water ever did, and this time he can’t call for Mabel to carry him away.


End file.
